Posted on Dec 10, 2015
Bergdahl Says He Left Base To Expose 'Leadership Failure'. Was It Really Worth It?
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In a Recent Armyimes Article
BOISE, Idaho — Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl says he walked off his base in Afghanistan to cause a crisis that would catch the attention of military brass.
He wanted to warn them about what he believed were serious problems with leadership in his unit. And he wanted to prove himself as a real-life action hero, like someone out of a movie.
Bergdahl hasn't spoken publicly about his decision or his subsequent five-year imprisonment by the Taliban and the prisoner swap that secured his return to the United States. But over the past several months he spoke extensively with screenwriter Mark Boal, who shared about 25 hours of the recorded interviews with Sarah Koenig for her popular podcast, "Serial."
"As a private first-class, nobody is going to listen to me," Bergdahl says in the first episode of the podcast, released Thursday. "No one is going to take me serious that an investigation needs to be put underway."
Bergdahl, of Hailey, Idaho, was charged in March with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. He faces up to life in prison, though an Army officer has recommended that Bergdahl's case be moved to a special misdemeanor-level military court.
His attorney Eugene Fidell says politicians and would-be politicians have been using Bergdahl as a talking point to push their own agendas for months, a situation he described as creating "gale-force political winds."
The more the public can hear Bergdahl's own words, the better, Fidell told The Associated Press.
"Some of the information that is going to come out is inevitably not going to be what we would have preferred in a perfect universe, but net-net, we'll take it and allow people in our democratic society to form their own opinions," Fidell said.
Bergdahl's interview is another coup for makers of "Serial," which established podcasts as a viable outlet when the first season was downloaded more than 100 million times. Makers wouldn't say how long the new season would last; the first one was 12 separate episodes.
In the episode, Bergdahl says he wanted to expose the "leadership failure" he experienced in Afghanistan. The episode does not elaborate on what that failure was, but he says he believed at the time his disappearance and his plan to reappear at another location would give him access to top officials. After leaving the base after midnight, he worries about the reception he'll get once he reappears, and decides to try to get information on who was planting bombs in the area. That information will help smooth things over with angry military officials, he figures.
Sarah Koenig, the host and executive producer of "Serial," describes Bergdahl as a "radical, idiosyncratic" man in the episode. She says Bergdahl shipped his personal items home, bought local attire and pulled out $300 in U.S. dollars and Afghanis ahead of leaving the base.
Bergdahl acknowledges his motives weren't entirely idealistic.
"I was trying to prove to myself, I was trying to prove to the world, to anybody who used to know me ... I was capable of being what I appeared to be," Bergdahl says. "Doing what I did was me saying I am like Jason Bourne. I had this fantastic idea that I was going to prove to the world I was the real thing."
He says after the sun came up, a group of men on motorcycles captured him as he walked through nearby flatland desert.
He also discusses the psychological torment of being held captive for years.
"It's like how do I explain to a person that just standing in an empty dark room hurts?" Bergdahl recounts. "It's like well, a person asked me, 'Why does it hurt? Does your body hurt?' Yes, your body hurts but it's more than that. It's mental, like, almost confused. ... I would wake up not even remembering what I was."
He adds: "It's like you're standing there, screaming in your mind."
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/2015/12/10/bergdahl-says-he-left-base-expose-leadership-failure/77117432/
BOISE, Idaho — Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl says he walked off his base in Afghanistan to cause a crisis that would catch the attention of military brass.
He wanted to warn them about what he believed were serious problems with leadership in his unit. And he wanted to prove himself as a real-life action hero, like someone out of a movie.
Bergdahl hasn't spoken publicly about his decision or his subsequent five-year imprisonment by the Taliban and the prisoner swap that secured his return to the United States. But over the past several months he spoke extensively with screenwriter Mark Boal, who shared about 25 hours of the recorded interviews with Sarah Koenig for her popular podcast, "Serial."
"As a private first-class, nobody is going to listen to me," Bergdahl says in the first episode of the podcast, released Thursday. "No one is going to take me serious that an investigation needs to be put underway."
Bergdahl, of Hailey, Idaho, was charged in March with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. He faces up to life in prison, though an Army officer has recommended that Bergdahl's case be moved to a special misdemeanor-level military court.
His attorney Eugene Fidell says politicians and would-be politicians have been using Bergdahl as a talking point to push their own agendas for months, a situation he described as creating "gale-force political winds."
The more the public can hear Bergdahl's own words, the better, Fidell told The Associated Press.
"Some of the information that is going to come out is inevitably not going to be what we would have preferred in a perfect universe, but net-net, we'll take it and allow people in our democratic society to form their own opinions," Fidell said.
Bergdahl's interview is another coup for makers of "Serial," which established podcasts as a viable outlet when the first season was downloaded more than 100 million times. Makers wouldn't say how long the new season would last; the first one was 12 separate episodes.
In the episode, Bergdahl says he wanted to expose the "leadership failure" he experienced in Afghanistan. The episode does not elaborate on what that failure was, but he says he believed at the time his disappearance and his plan to reappear at another location would give him access to top officials. After leaving the base after midnight, he worries about the reception he'll get once he reappears, and decides to try to get information on who was planting bombs in the area. That information will help smooth things over with angry military officials, he figures.
Sarah Koenig, the host and executive producer of "Serial," describes Bergdahl as a "radical, idiosyncratic" man in the episode. She says Bergdahl shipped his personal items home, bought local attire and pulled out $300 in U.S. dollars and Afghanis ahead of leaving the base.
Bergdahl acknowledges his motives weren't entirely idealistic.
"I was trying to prove to myself, I was trying to prove to the world, to anybody who used to know me ... I was capable of being what I appeared to be," Bergdahl says. "Doing what I did was me saying I am like Jason Bourne. I had this fantastic idea that I was going to prove to the world I was the real thing."
He says after the sun came up, a group of men on motorcycles captured him as he walked through nearby flatland desert.
He also discusses the psychological torment of being held captive for years.
"It's like how do I explain to a person that just standing in an empty dark room hurts?" Bergdahl recounts. "It's like well, a person asked me, 'Why does it hurt? Does your body hurt?' Yes, your body hurts but it's more than that. It's mental, like, almost confused. ... I would wake up not even remembering what I was."
He adds: "It's like you're standing there, screaming in your mind."
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/2015/12/10/bergdahl-says-he-left-base-expose-leadership-failure/77117432/
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Bowe Bergdahl seems to have been deluded to believe that he could walk a day in Afghanistan back to the FOB to draw attention to what he considered bad leadership SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL.
I expect he learned some lessons which he will never forget from his five years of being a prisoner of the taliban. He may well have confused his captors who kept him alive much longer than any other American prisoner.
Bowe Bergdahl may or may not have felt it was worth it. I doubt that the men who lost their lives searching for him or their comrades in arms felt any sympathy for him after he "revealed why" he did what he did.
I expect he learned some lessons which he will never forget from his five years of being a prisoner of the taliban. He may well have confused his captors who kept him alive much longer than any other American prisoner.
Bowe Bergdahl may or may not have felt it was worth it. I doubt that the men who lost their lives searching for him or their comrades in arms felt any sympathy for him after he "revealed why" he did what he did.
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SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT
A deserter during wartime operations.
Does not deserve any mercy for his actions
Does not deserve any mercy for his actions
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SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
LTC Stephen F. well said and eloquently expressed. As a AFGHANISTAN Veteran its a dark part of OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM when it comes to this case. I lost friends over there only to think about how some pupil, had no respect for their country! Its absurd and drives me nuts.
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SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT
I would have been the first person the defense lawyer would have wanted removed from the court martial. boards hated having MP as members because we ask questions?
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Capt Lance Gallardo
Berghdahl's mind is probably so messed up from years of isolation and brutal treatment from the Taliban, that anything that comes out of his mouth and imagination regarding why he did what he did has to be taken with a huge grain of salt. The best evidence about why he did something so utterly insane as to walk out of his FOB unarmed, with no real plan or realistic assessment of his chances of making it to his Battalion Commander's location, is to study the events leading up to his departure. The statements of the men he left behind, who justifiably feel betrayed also have to be measured against the prejudice and animosity they have towards Berghdahl. There seems pretty good evidence that the unit was having some serious problems before Berghdahl snapped and took off. The Platoon Leader removed for cause, the acting platoon leader, the Platoon Staff Sgt, maybe not up to the task of replacing the Plt Leader, animosity between members of the unit that Berghdahl was in. The picture of what went on in the platoon before Berghdal left is not pretty. Did someone threaten to harm him? Was the hostility he sensed from the his squad or platoon rise to such a level, that reasonable soldier in Berghdahl's situation feel under duress, to the point where he would leave the perimeter to seek safety? Only a trial will bring out the truth. He should face a courts martial of his peers for whatever charges the Convening Authority and his JAG think can be tried and proven against Berghdahl.
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Well, Bergdahl is a liar. I mean, I am not saying that his unit was flawless - I know it wasn't, but for an infantry unit with a high turnover since their previous deployment just one year before it was a dirty, effective unit. Of course Bergdahl is gonna come up with some reason for taking off, Since he got caught. If Bergdahl was, and he is not, speaking the truth - shouldn't he do that during a FOB run? You know when you could actually just walked over to higher leadership and not betray your brothers.
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SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT
He was a private in an Infantry unit who should have been in listening mode.
Being told what to do as part of a team
Being told what to do as part of a team
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SGT (Join to see)
SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT - You are absolutely right. He was just a weird guy. Obviously he should have been weeded out of the Army before he deployed, but back in 2008 big Army brought in anyone that was willing. Infantry units got massive amounts of reinforcement that was really weird eclectic collection of lost souls - but the vast majority could do what they were supposed to do. Like we all did.
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SSG (Join to see)
SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT - that is the problme right there he wants to be specal and do his own thing. Not the army team playing thing.
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PV2 Abbott Shaull
You hit the nail on the head Sergeant Lundberg. It was the high speed rotation that regular unts faced, is the real reason for any flaws. Much like WWII Army, or the Civil War Army, or any other period when the Army faced increase in numbers/operations. People will get promoted to positions they aren't fit for. Like lot of times I heard/read from leaders of WWII, yeah they had their screw ups in their units. Some that would of faced Court Martials under normal circumstances. Yet, many never did, for two reason. The Operational tempo made doing proper and through investigation and proceed with Court Martial next to impossible. The next reason seems to be constant refrain, "We needed every jack we could put in the line. We overlooked things, because we were always short troop." With that said that is why so many units were able to continuous rotations in and out. Sometimes you have to overlook someone flaws, and put them in positions that in non-war time Army they wouldn't. The Army that takes field always look much more rugged than spit and shine we see in peace time.
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You don't send all your "stuff" home to do something like this! I don't doubt he got hurt, but was it self inflicted? OH YEA!! And we've never heard what the leadership problems were!!
No mercy from this end of the court!!
No mercy from this end of the court!!
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SGT (Join to see)
You are so right. This was insanely pre-meditated. He send home his laptop and private stuff. He left without his weapon. He never intended to come back.
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SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT
Back in the 70s as am MP peace time deserters were turned into the Philly Naval Yard.
I can still remember the sound of the prisons large metal doors clicking shut
I can still remember the sound of the prisons large metal doors clicking shut
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CMDCM Gene Treants
CSM Charles Hayden while awaiting transfer, I stood SP in Philadelphia and sometimes HAD to eat in the Brig in the Navy Yard. That was the absolute Worst Chow in the Navy EVER!
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My first question is, "Does a PFC have the qualifications to determine what a Leadership Failure is?"
The short answer would be NO!
Politics has gotten in the way of justice in this case. I doubt he will receive the punishment that he deserves. The guy was a deserter in war time. If this was WWII, he would be executed.
I would settle for a Dishonorable Discharge, forfeiture of all rank, and a minimum of 5 years making big rocks into little rocks at Leavenworth.
The short answer would be NO!
Politics has gotten in the way of justice in this case. I doubt he will receive the punishment that he deserves. The guy was a deserter in war time. If this was WWII, he would be executed.
I would settle for a Dishonorable Discharge, forfeiture of all rank, and a minimum of 5 years making big rocks into little rocks at Leavenworth.
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SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL He is a waste of our resources. He is a waste of oxygen. Why do we let a deserter like him be allowed to be alive? Feed his ass to a feeding farm or something. Ammo is a waste of money in my opinion. Feed him to the sharks or lions or something. I wouldn't waste anything more on his sorry ASS!!!!
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Now the idiot is on TV! Yea, for free! The ------ ------ will make so many $ from this - it makes me sick! I must go regurgitate my supper!
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I was just wondering what is going on with his court martial. It is crazy that after all of the investigations, it has not gone to trial yet. That stinks to me. I was surprised to hear about this and wonder if his lawyer allowed him to do this. We need to get this over with as soon as possible.
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PV2 Abbott Shaull
Don't see a court martial anything until the next sitting President take office. If it Clinton, I am sure she will do everything in her power to keep a court martial from happen. All the while, E-5 Punk still collecting a monthly check, in a uniform he disgraced.
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COL Jon Thompson
Capt Lance Gallardo - Thanks for that information. Is it normal for a procedure to take this long after an article 32 hearing? I was not involved in very many court martials but the few I was happened pretty quickly from the Article 32 to the trial. I think the delay right or wrong makes it stink of politics but perhaps in a trial of this magnitude, it would take a lot longer. It just seems there have been a lot of investigating and little outcome from all of those.
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Capt Lance Gallardo
COL Jon Thompson - No Sir, it is very unusual for the CA General (Gen. Robert Abrams, the head of Army Forces Command who is in charge of the case) to take this long after receiving the recommendations of the Art. 32 Officer (on October 10th), before deciding to send the Soldier to a Courts Martial (or not). The Article 32 hearing wrapped up Sept. 18. Berghdal faces one desertion charge and one charge of misbehavior before the enemy, which could carry a life sentence. The Convening Authority could ignore the recommendation of the Article 32 Officer and STILL take Bergdahl to a General Courts Martial (A Felony Level Courts Martial) on the one count of count of desertion and one count of charge of misbehavior before the enemy, or the CA could send him to a special courts martial which is the misdemeanor type courts martial, or he could decide to dismiss all charges against Bergdahl.
"The officer in charge of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's Article 32 hearing has recommended that the soldier accused of desertion avoid jail time for his actions, according to Bergdahl's civil defense attorney.
Lt. Col. Mark Visger's report to Gen. Robert Abrams, the head of Army Forces Command who is in charge of the case, also will advise that the matter be decided at a special court-martial, lawyer Eugene Fidell told Army Times on Saturday, confirming reports in other media outlets. Soldiers facing special courts-martial can receive no more than a year in jail and no worse than a bad-conduct discharge; punishments regarding hard labor and pay forfeiture have similar restrictions.
Visger also recommended Bergdahl not face a punitive discharge for his alleged actions, Fidell said. A memo from Bergdahl's defense team to Visger regarding the report — released late Friday by Fidell to media members — said the officer's recommendations didn't go far enough and requested nonjudicial punishment, better known as an Article 15, instead of a special court-martial."
This delay of time in my humble opinion is providing an opportunity for Berghdahl, and his Noted Military Criminal Defense Attorney, Eugene Fidell, (Fidell is a co-founder and former president of the National Institute of Military Justice) to shape public opinion and possibly influence the decision of the General Abrams. Though some legal commentators are saying that Bergdahl's comments in his online interview are not making him look more sympathetic, but either crazy or mentally impaired, possibly paving the way for a lack of mental responsibility affirmative defense should his case go to trial .
From http://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/newcaaf 2012 (September Term)
United States v. Mott, 72 M.J. 319 (the affirmative defense of lack of mental responsibility requires the accused to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that at the time of the offense, (1) the accused suffered from a severe mental disease or defect, and (2) as a result of that mental disease or defect, the accused was unable to appreciate either (a) the nature and quality of his acts, or (b) the wrongfulness of his acts).
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/crime/2015/10/10/lawyer-officer-recommends-no-jail-bergdahl/73726990/
"The officer in charge of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's Article 32 hearing has recommended that the soldier accused of desertion avoid jail time for his actions, according to Bergdahl's civil defense attorney.
Lt. Col. Mark Visger's report to Gen. Robert Abrams, the head of Army Forces Command who is in charge of the case, also will advise that the matter be decided at a special court-martial, lawyer Eugene Fidell told Army Times on Saturday, confirming reports in other media outlets. Soldiers facing special courts-martial can receive no more than a year in jail and no worse than a bad-conduct discharge; punishments regarding hard labor and pay forfeiture have similar restrictions.
Visger also recommended Bergdahl not face a punitive discharge for his alleged actions, Fidell said. A memo from Bergdahl's defense team to Visger regarding the report — released late Friday by Fidell to media members — said the officer's recommendations didn't go far enough and requested nonjudicial punishment, better known as an Article 15, instead of a special court-martial."
This delay of time in my humble opinion is providing an opportunity for Berghdahl, and his Noted Military Criminal Defense Attorney, Eugene Fidell, (Fidell is a co-founder and former president of the National Institute of Military Justice) to shape public opinion and possibly influence the decision of the General Abrams. Though some legal commentators are saying that Bergdahl's comments in his online interview are not making him look more sympathetic, but either crazy or mentally impaired, possibly paving the way for a lack of mental responsibility affirmative defense should his case go to trial .
From http://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/newcaaf 2012 (September Term)
United States v. Mott, 72 M.J. 319 (the affirmative defense of lack of mental responsibility requires the accused to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that at the time of the offense, (1) the accused suffered from a severe mental disease or defect, and (2) as a result of that mental disease or defect, the accused was unable to appreciate either (a) the nature and quality of his acts, or (b) the wrongfulness of his acts).
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/crime/2015/10/10/lawyer-officer-recommends-no-jail-bergdahl/73726990/
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COL Jon Thompson
Capt Lance Gallardo - Thanks for that information. I understand a little better the situation. I guess because of the highest level political implications, they are taking the time to make sure it is done right. Hopefully that will be the case.
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Can we just have him discharged in lieu of court martial so we can stop wasting resources on him. Cut his benefits off and punt him out the door.
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PV2 Abbott Shaull
If we discharged him, he will still qualify for VA benefits. I say keep him in, and job he suitable to command, the lone soldier running the dishwasher after chow.
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SMSgt Thor Merich
PV2 Abbott Shaull - Actually, not a bad idea. Reduce his rank to E-1 and keep him in the Army. Send him to a far off post with a crappy job. Or, we can reassign him to wash clothes at Leavenworth, by hand.
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